Night terrors
by jwg676
Summary: What shinigami dream about...


**Title:** Night terrors

**Rating:** G

**Pairing / Characters: **Yamamoto-soutaichou, Kira Izuru, Kotetsu Isane, Kuchiki Byakuya, Kuchiki Rukia, Kyouraku Shunsui, Madarame Ikkaku, Ukitake Jyuushirou, Kurosaki Ichigo

**Word Count: **737 words

**Warnings: **Just a mild spoiler for the Soul Society arc

**Summary: **What nightmares shinigami have

**A/N: **Isane's fear of fish paste came straight from the shinigami cup in the anime, ep sixty one, I think. I'm not entirely sure…

Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni 

It was another in the string of long, sleepless nights.

Yamamoto-soutaichou stood at the window, zanpakutou in hand, watching the play of shadows on the moonlit grounds. He wasn't entirely sure where the idea had come from, but in the darkness of the night he had concluded that someone would inevitably try to assassinate him and succeed, and his name would fall into memory. Yamamoto trusted his captains, of course he did, but he remained at the window nevertheless.

Kira Izuru 

Panting, the sheets twisted beneath him, Kira screamed soundlessly to the cold walls. In the dream he could not escape, he was standing before a mirror, lips stretched into a humourless grin, eyes cold, unforgiving, his zanpakutou stained with innocent blood. Beside him stood his captain, an identical smile on his face. As Ichimaru Gin put his hand on his shoulder, they were cradled in the arms of a Menos, destined for a life beyond the boundaries of Sereitei. Alone, wracked with terror, Kira screamed his negation of the nightmare to deaf ears.

Kotetsu Isane 

'Fish paste!'

Isane sat bolt upright, clutching the covers under her chin to ward off the trembling. It was everywhere, in the fish, in her tea, on warm, fresh bread… it leered at her around every corner, red, and thick, glutinous, _smelly… _

Isane desperately needed a cup of tea. Sliding out of bed, she reached for her slippers- and glancing around to make sure no one was watching, hastily checked the insides for fish paste before she slipped them onto her feet.

Kuchiki Byakuya

He awoke, hearing his harsh breathing in the stillness of the night, the dreams images still vivid in his mind.

Rukia. She lay on the hot, dusty sand beneath the destroyed Soukyokou stand, blood pooling around her, her eyes slowly losing their focus, Ichimaru Gin standing over her lifeless form, her blood spattering his robes…

'Go back to sleep, Nii-sama, it's just a dream.'

Byakuya glanced up at Rukia, his expression more vulnerable than he would have wished.

'Stay,' he whispered. Not wanting to make it sound like a command, and hoping it was less of a plea, he added 'please. Stay.'

Rukia grasped his hand in both of hers. 'I'll be here.'

When Kuchiki Byakuya awoke the following morning, Rukia was curled up beside him, her head pillowed on her arm.

Kyouraku Shunsui 

Shunsui awoke shuddering.

'I promise never to drink sake during office hours again,' he swore fervently, still shaken by the nightmare that haunted him.

In it, his beloved Nanao-chan was standing over him with a fan, encouraging him to drink since he "was so fond of sake". Every time he refused, wanting to concentrate, she'd hit him with the fan.

Shunsui frowned, wondering if his Nanao-chan would be so cruel to him in the light of day, then he sighed.

Probably.

Madarame Ikkaku 

Sliding on the smooth floor, Madarame grabbed at the table to steady himself but he didn't slow his pace, frantic to get to a mirror. Panting with exertion and desperation, he flung himself into the bathroom and reached the mirror, running his hands over his smooth scalp, reassuring himself that the dream was just that and nothing more, but it was only his reflection that convinced him.

In his nightmare, Madarame had _hair._

Ukitake Jyuushirou 

He was lying on the ground, far from help, feeling his heartbeat slowing, seeing the world around him dim as the life left his body, and he felt a quiet sorrow. While he didn't fear dying, there was one thing that he was more afraid of than anything else.

On waking, Jyuushirou rolled over and shook Shunsui awake.

Shunsui opened a bleary eye and stared at his face. ''s wrong?'

'Shun, promise me something,' Jyuushirou said urgently.

'?'

'Promise me that if I die, you'll never forget that I love you. Promise me that even if I never get a chance to tell you, you'll never forget it.'

Shunsui reached for him and caressed his cheek gently. 'I won't forget, Shirou, you have my word.'

Kurosaki Ichigo 

Ichigo pulled his pillow over his face, groaning aloud.

It wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare of the living kind.

Kurosaki Isshun was really his father, not an evil twisted soul from Hueco Mundo.

Ichigo frowned. Now that he thought about it, there was a possibility his father was from Hueco Mundo after all.


End file.
